1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plastic pallet which is used when objects are transferred by means of a forklift or the like.
2. Related Background Art
Pallets are used for transfer, storage, and the like of objects. Though they had been made of wood in general, recently they have often been made of plastic in order to reduce their weight.
Due to the strength characteristics of the material itself, however, plastic pallets tend to have a bending strength lower than that of the conventional wooden pallets. In particular, in cases where a fork of a forklift is inserted into a plastic pallet in order to move a load, especially when the load is heavy, not only a deck board but also the whole pallet may deform flexibly, thereby causing a load shift. Accordingly, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-72048, it has been proposed to change the interval or thickness of reinforcement ribs which are monolithically formed with the deck board in order to reinforce the deck board.
Though the bending strength of the pallet disclosed in the above-mentioned publication is increased due to the reinforcement effected by the ribs, the total weight of the pallet is so heavy that the bending strength per weight, i.e., specific strength, is decreased.